diff --git a/lib/languages b/lib/languages
index 868bde49de..d5ac3bd699 100644
--- a/lib/languages
+++ b/lib/languages
@@ -133,7 +133,8 @@
 #   if a corresponding language module exists.
 # * BabelProvide determines if and when a language should be loaded from
 #   babel *.ini files with babel. Possible values:
-#   0 (= never, default), 1 (always), 2 (with Unicode engines/non-TeX fonts)
+#   0 (= never, default), 1 (always), 2 (with Unicode engines/non-TeX fonts).
+#   The latter advises babel to ignore existing *.ldf files.
 # * BabelOpts are comma separated, no matter how they shall be represented
 #   in the output.
 # * BabelOptFormat specifies how the language-specific options shall be
diff --git a/src/BufferParams.cpp b/src/BufferParams.cpp
index f82fd1d24c..8f5dbfdcac 100644
--- a/src/BufferParams.cpp
+++ b/src/BufferParams.cpp
@@ -3502,6 +3502,7 @@ string BufferParams::babelCall(LaTeXFeatures const & features, string lang_opts,
 	langs.insert(language);
 	ostringstream os;
 	string force_provide;
+	bool have_main_forceprovide = false;
 	for (auto const & l : langs) {
 		string blang = l->babel();
 		bool use_opt = langoptions;
@@ -3534,12 +3535,15 @@ string BufferParams::babelCall(LaTeXFeatures const & features, string lang_opts,
 		if (bp == 2 && useNonTeXFonts) {
 			// here we need to tell babel to use the ini
 			// even though an *.ldf exists
-			if (l == language)
+			if (l == language) {
 				force_provide = force_provide.empty()
 						? "provide=*"
 						: "provide*=*";
-			else
-				force_provide = "provide+=*";
+				have_main_forceprovide = true;
+			} else
+				force_provide = have_main_forceprovide
+						? "provide*=*"
+						: "provide+=*";
 			have_mods = true;
 		}
 		if (bp != 1 && use_opt)